6 Apps Health IT Pros Need to Stay Healthy At Work

Amanda has been reeling from the many pressures life has to offer since she graduated high school. From college papers and midterms, determining a major, graduating and finding a job, and all the other unexpected bumps along the way. Attaching ‘normal’ life stressors to a high tension health IT job often puts Amanda’s emotions and health at the bottom of her ‘to-deal-with’ list.

If you’re sitting there nodding in agreement due to your own health IT career, it doesn’t surprise us. In fact, our 2016 Health IT Stress Report found an overwhelming 55 percent of health IT professionals are either constantly or frequently stressed. What’s arguably worse — 45 percent say their stress occurs on a frequent or constant basis.

With so many companies pushing for higher employee well-being, sometimes it’s important to take things into your own hands. So, we searched for apps that can help you determine the main causes of your stress, what is making it worse, and how you can work on healing yourself through daily routines catered to your own lifestyle.

Here are six apps that will get you started on a journey to a healthier you:

Headspace is a meditation app that goes beyond simply getting your mind to relax in the moment. Instead, it acts as a personal trainer that helps train your mind to apply mindfulness techniques to daily activities.

With this app, available on iOS, Android, and the web, you’re able to browse collections of mindfulness activities and pick sessions to suit your mood and lifestyle. We understand health IT pros lead very busy lives, so we chose an app where you can build your own session length and save time by replaying your favorites.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a modern day Gandhi to grasp these relaxing techniques. You can practice the basics of meditation and mindfulness with Take10, Headspace’s free introductory series. With 10 sessions of 10 minutes each, you’ll learn how to train your mind for a happier, healthier life.

If you find the app is exactly what you needed to manage your daily stress, you can sign up for an account for $12.95/month, yearly for $7.99/month, two years for $6.24/month, or if you really feel dedicated, their Forever package is $419.95.

Even though some health IT pros will like the expedited version of mediating, many of you are goal setting, data tracking lovers — that’s where Pacifica comes in.

Pacifica is an all-in-one behavioral therapy and meditation center with mood tracking, goal setting, relaxation techniques, and a diary. Combining all of these tools for stress and anxiety with a supportive community makes the iOS, Android, and web app perfect for those who want to go just a bit deeper into their de-stressing journey.

Using cognitive behavioral therapy, combined with relaxation and wellness techniques, Pacifica uses simple, quick, daily activities that allow people to track their progress for managing anxiety, stress, and worry for only $5.99 a month or yearly for $2.99 a month.

Sometimes it isn’t necessarily stress and anxiety throughout the entire day giving people issues, but rather their inability to shut down at night. Pzizz, available on iOS and Android, is an app equipped to help people with their sleep and insomnia problems.

Let’s face it, while you’re laying there thinking about what went wrong today or are laying out tomorrow’s steps, your brain suffers from too much thinking. There you lay — awake when your brain should be shut off and getting the rest it needs to replenish the body.

Pzizz helps you calm your mind to induce sleep using the science of psychoacoustics. Their patented system plays you a sleep-optimized mix of music, voiceover, and sound effects that quickly quiet your mind, put you to sleep, keep you asleep, and wake you up feeling refreshed. You can download Pzizz for free to give it a try and upgrade with in-app purchases as you go.

It isn’t just our mental well-being that suffers from stress throughout the day. Hunched over at a computer and snacking on whatever the vending machine has to offer for lunch takes a toll on your physical health. 7 Minute Workout reminds you that it just takes a few minutes — 7 to be exact — a day during work to move your body and work up a sweat.

Available on iOS and Android for free, 7 Minute Workout offers 72 exercises and 22 additional workouts that can be customized and modified to create more than 1,000 variations to help keep you motivated and moving.

To keep you pushing forward and progressing, the app features Smart Workout. A program that gauges your fitness and motivation level and recommends different workout programs along with intensity increases.

For those of you who find better results when tracking is involved, My Fitness Pal is has what you need. Available on iOS, Android, and web, the app allows you to set a goal, count calories, and track food and workout habits.

The system quickly becomes acquainted with you and your daily activities, so it remembers foods you’ve logged in the past making it easier to keep up with your journal. If you see tacos from the food truck recurring in your program each week, it may be time to switch things up.

Foodstand is fun for goal oriented go-getters. With this iOS and Android app you can join eating challenges and stay accountable with a supportive community. The free community-powered Good Eating Challenges help you feel empowered to make good choices for yourself.

Within the community, members are able to share how well, or not-so-well, they did each day to keep each other motivated.